Get More Likes for Your Psychotherapy Fan Page So you've built your Facebook fan page for your psychotherapy private practice. You've even gotten in the routine of publishing great content. This means you are well on your way to marketing your practice using social media. But a fan page is only as good as it's fans, so to really develop a social media presence, you'll need to build a strong fan base. This article will show you the six simple steps to doing this. Promote your Facebook page in all your other marketing and promotional materials. Have a link to your Facebook page under your email signature, list it on your business card, you may even include it in your directory listing. Facebook is considered more interesting and engaging than static web pages, so people may visit your Facebook page before they visit your website. Great promotion starts at home. Don't be shy about promoting yourself to friends and family. Simply start by asking them to do so. They are your friends and family, they want to support your practice, and they want to help promote you. The average Facebook user has 234 friends, so if just 50 of your own friends "Like" your fan page, your practice will suddenly be visible to 11,700 Facebook users. Announce your new page to your mailing list. Send an email to your clients and potential clients announcing your private practice Facebook fan page. This should be a celebratory email, share the good news with them. Like your friends and family, your therapy clients want to support you and your practice. You can flat out ask them to go out and like your page. Don't be shy about this. Share content with other professionals who target your potential clients. This is the "social" aspect of social media. Who else in your area is already working with your ideal client? What social media are they using, and how do they incorporate Facebook? Once you do a little research to identify these businesses, you can capitalize on their success to build your own fan base. Start by "liking" and commenting on their posts from your business page, so they take notice of you. Then you can offer to write a guest post, or provide other content for them. This will put you in front of their customers and promote your private practice using an established social media base. Add the Facebook plug-in to your website or blog. If you are still using the old-style blog comments, this is the perfect chance to update to Facebook. That way when someone visits your website, they be automatically prompted to connect with you on Facebook. If you think a "plug-in" is used for your blowdryer or toaster, get someone to help you with this one.
Run a contest or a charitable fundraiser. This will cost you a few dollars, but it can really shortcut your practice-building efforts. When I first launched my Fan page several years ago, I offered to donate $5 for each new like in a certain week. My fans could also suggest the charity of choice and vote on the finalist. (We ended up deciding on the Red Cross.) I donated several hundred dollars, got a tax write-off, some new fans, and some GREAT publicity. People were excited to have their friends and family like my page. I've also had success with a contest, where all of my fans were entered in a drawing for one of my training programs. That one did get likes also, but not nearly as many as the fundraiser. As therapists, we have to be particularly careful regarding the privacy and the ethics when we use social media to build our private practices. By using the 6 simple steps listed above, you'll be on the road to build your audience, market your private practice, and get new clients. how to get more facebook fan page page likes